Eight-time NBA All Star Dwight Howard encouraged his Taoyuan Leopard teammates to keep their heads up and to “trust the process” as their team recorded its fifth consecutive loss after falling 103-94 to the New Taipei CTBC DEA on Saturday.
“I just wanted to keep telling the guys to keep fighting, keep pushing, keep their heads up, and all the hard work that we put in everyday at practice is going to pay off, but we just gotta stay consistent and trust the process,” the 2.08-meter-tall American said at the post-game press conference.
It is okay to lose basketball games, as long as everyone played their hardest, Howard said, adding that the team is focused on winning the championship.
“I just kept telling the guys to keep their heads up and that it’s ok that we lost the game and that we are going to win the war at the end of the season which is the championship,” Howard said. “We gotta keep fighting, we gotta stay together, and we can’t hold our heads down when we lose.”
“Losing teaches us better than winning sometimes as it can become a building block for later success,” said Howard, who played in the NBA for 18 seasons and won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2019-2020 season.
“In my experience of playing basketball, I’ve lost a lot of games, I’ve also won a lot of wars and battles because I understood through my experiences what happens after we lose,” Howard said.
Howard made the remarks after the Leopards recorded their latest loss, which was to the DEA on the road at New Taipei’s Xinzhuang Gymnasium Saturday.
In the game, the DEA charged ahead from the opening tip-off, leading by as much as six points just halfway into the first quarter, before the Leopards rallied to make it a two-point game, trailing 23-21 at the start of the second quarter.
From there, the Leopards took the lead 24-23 just minutes into the second quarter after a three-pointer from beyond the arc from the team’s captain Cheng Wei (??).
Both teams enjoyed stretches of good plays before the first half finished with the Leopards leading by just one bucket 48-46.
The intensity ramped up in the second half as both teams traded buckets from beyond the arc, before the DEA stormed ahead with a barrage of fine shooting with just under five minutes left in the third quarter.
The New Taipei team led by 15 points at the end of the third quarter and continued to lead in the fourth quarter as the Leopards tried to cut the deficit down to single digits.
However, the DEA was unstoppable in the fourth quarter as Lin Wei-han (???) put on a show by nailing shots and dishing out assists to lead his team to a 103-94 victory.
Lin recorded a triple-double of 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists, while Leopards shooting guard Lu Chieh-min (???) led all scorers with 34 points, shooting 10-18 from the floor, which included 9-15 from beyond the arc and 5-5 from the stripe.
Howard, who joined the Leopards in November, posted 15 points and six rebounds.
The latest loss was Howard’s fourth game for the Leopards and the team’s fifth consecutive loss.
The Taoyuan-based team now has a 1-6 record with the only win being on Nov. 19, which was Howard’s T1 LEAGUE debut.
The Leopards sit at the bottom of the six-team T1 LEAGUE rankings, while the DEA are tied at the top with a 5-3 record along with the defending champions, the Kaohsiung Aquas.
TaiwanBeer HeroBears top Taichung Suns
Also in the T1 LEAGUE Saturday, the Taipei-based TaiwanBeer HeroBears topped the Taichung Suns 92-80 while on the road at the National Taiwan University of Sport Gymnasium in the central Taiwan city.
The HeroBears now sit third in the standings with a 4-3 record, while the Suns are 4-4 and tied for fourth with the Tainan TSG GhostHawks.
P. LEAGUE+ games
Meanwhile, in the P. LEAGUE+ Saturday, Taiwan’s other professional basketball league, the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots defeated the New Taipei Kings 88-74, while the Taipei Fubon Braves overpowered the Kaohsiung 17LIVE Steelers in a 114-80 blowout.
The Kings are at the top of the six-team P. LEAGUE+ standings with a 6-3 record, the Pilots are second at 5-3, and the Braves are third at 6-4, while the Steelers are last with a 1-8 record.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel